It took just twenty minutes. Not to sell out a limited edition of overpriced sports cars, but to clear out the inventory of three small Fiat that fit in the palm of your hand. In Brazil, the Italian automaker is celebrating 50 years of industrial presence in the country with a collection of miniatures that has been particularly well received. After an initial, lightning-fast sell-out, Fiat announced today the arrival of a new shipment.
Three Fiats, three pieces of history
Named Fiat Collection, this anniversary series doesn’t choose its models at random. It brings together three vehicles that each, in their own way, tell the story of Fiat in Brazil. First up is the Fiat 147, a highly symbolic model since it was the first car produced by Fiat in the country. Next to it is a yellow Fiat Uno, equipped with a ladder on the roof. This detail might seem trivial in Europe, but it directly references a famous Brazilian meme about the Uno and its supposedly tenfold increase in performance when carrying a ladder.
The third model is much more contemporary: it’s the Fiat Strada, the small pickup truck that has become a true commercial phenomenon in Latin America and is touted by Fiat as the best-selling vehicle in Brazil. For this edition, like the others, it features a design celebrating the brand’s 50th anniversary in the country.
The inventory sold out in just 20 minutes
These three thumbnails were originally posted on Fiat Wear, the brand’s merchandise store. Fiat explains that the enthusiasm far exceeded its expectations: the entire stock sold out in just twenty minutes. This prompted the automaker to put another batch on the market. A new batch is now available, and Fiat is accompanying this restock with a full-scale advertising campaign designed by the Leo agency, which has been a partner of the brand for thirty years.
It’s a pretty amusing idea: presenting these scale models exactly as if they were real cars. The film thus echoes the highly recognizable conventions of Brazilian car commercials, with one major difference (literally). The Fiat 147, Uno, and Strada—promoted with great fanfare—are actually miniatures priced at 24.99 Brazilian reais, or about four euros at the current exchange rate. The campaign concludes with a tagline that sums up the concept quite well: «Small in size, giants in history.».
A sense of nostalgia that Fiat doesn't seem to have underestimated—twice
For Frederico Battaglia, head of the Fiat and Abarth brands in South America, the collection’s success shows that these cars are as much a part of Fiat’s 50-year history in Brazil as they are of the memories of many Brazilian drivers. And that’s probably why it took just twenty short minutes for the first batch to sell out. Behind these simple toys priced at 24.99 reais lie three instantly recognizable cars and a healthy dose of nostalgia.
Fiat has confirmed that the miniatures are back in stock thanks to the arrival of a new shipment. However, the automaker has not specified how many units have been made available for sale. After the first shipment sold out in twenty minutes, one question remains: how long will this second shipment last?
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